About the Artist

Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) is one of the most popular and universally recognized artists of all time. A remarkably prolific artist, he produced approximately 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings during a brief career spanning a mere decade. Deeply inspired by the sun-drenched landscape of southern France, Van Gogh developed his signature style, marked by lush impasto, energetic brushwork, and vibrant color.

Description

Green Wheat Fields, Auvers was painted during Van Gogh’s final months in Auvers-sur-Oise. Two-thirds of the composition consists of the field in a rich range of greens and blues, punctuated by outbursts of yellow flowers. The artist wrote of his return to northern France as a kind of homecoming, a peaceful restoration in which the vibrant, hot colors of the south were replaced by cool, gentle hues of green and blue. Van Gogh’s energetic strokes describe the movement of grassy stalks in the breeze, their patterned undulations creating a woven form anchored at the right by a juncture of field, road, and sky. Above the fields the clouds whip around in spinning circles, created by Van Gogh’s brush squiggling across the surface in broad calligraphic strokes. The paint is applied in thick impasto, creating the textured surface common to all of Van Gogh’s best-loved paintings. Through his dynamic touch and vivid, rich color, Van Gogh expresses the intense freshness of this slice of countryside.